1. Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the sect.
Brahmo Samāj Religion.—This monotheistic sect of Bengal numbered only thirty-two adherents in the Central Provinces in 1911, of whom all or nearly all were probably Bengalis. Nevertheless its history is of great interest as representing an attempt at the reform and purification of Hinduism under the influence of Christianity. The founder of the sect, Rām Mohan Roy, a Brāhman, was born in 1772 and died in England in 1833. He was sent to school at Patna, where under the influence of Muhammadan teachers he learnt to despise the extravagant stories of the Purānas. At the age of sixteen he composed a tract against idolatry, which stirred up such a feeling of animosity against him that he had to leave his home. He betook himself first to Benares, where he received instruction in the Vedas from the Brāhmans. From there he went to Tibet, that he might learn the tenets of Buddhism from its adherents rather than its opponents; his genuine desire to form a fair judgment of the merits of every creed being further evidenced by his learning the language in which each of these finds its expression: thus he learnt Sanskrit that he might rightly understand the Vedas, Pāli that he might read the Buddhist Tripitaka, Arabic as the key to the Korān, and Hebrew and Greek for the Old and New Testaments.[1] In 1819, after a diligent study of the Bible, he published a book entitled The Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness. Although this work was eminently appreciative of the character and teaching of Christ, it gave rise to an attack from the missionaries of Serampore. Strange to say, Rām Mohan Roy so far converted his tutor Mr. Adam (himself a missionary) to his own way of thinking that that gentleman relinquished his spiritual office, became editor of the Indian Gazette, and was generally known in Calcutta as ‘The second fallen Adam.’[2]